It’s mid-June and we’re just days away from the summer solstice on June 21 – the official start of astronomical summer. That means we have the hottest days of the year headed our way, and around here, hot means days where the temperature reaches 90° or higher.
We get our fair share of 90-degree days here, much to the chagrin of most of us. On average, we can expect about 12 to 14 such days each year in our area. The bulk of those, of course, occur during the hottest months of June, July, and August. We do sometimes get a 90-degree day or two in May or September, but it’s far more common to see temperatures topping 90 degrees during the peak summer months.
Although the majority of 90-degree days are randomly spread throughout the warm months, we do occasionally get a string of consecutive 90-degree days. The most we’ve experienced here in our area is nine consecutive days. Actually, this happened twice, and recently, too. It happened in July 2016 and again in July 2020.
And, last year, we had a string of six 90-degree days in June. A run of two or three days in a row is fairly common here as well.
What is rare are years when we don’t get any days that reach 90 degrees. Since the year 2000, we’ve only seen that happen twice – in 2000 and in 2004. The year 2014 comes in with one 90-degree day.
By comparison, the Cleveland area averages about 9 days per year, Columbus averages 18 days, and Cincinnati averages 21 days.
So, how many 90-degree days will we see this year?
That’s really difficult to say with any amount of accuracy. Those 90-degree days vary a lot from year to year. And to be completely honest, the rainy and chilly trend we saw during the second half of May has little bearing on what the weather pattern might look like through the summer.
The latest seasonal outlook from NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center leans toward a warmer-than-average summer with precipitation expected to run around average in our area.
So, it makes perfect sense to figure we will experience a slightly above-average number of 90-degree days this year.
When can we expect to see our first 90° day of the season?
On average, we can expect to see our first 90° day of the season around June 17th – in other words, right about now. Since the year 2000, the earliest day we’ve hit 90° is May 8th (2015). The latest 90° day on record occurred on October 8th (2007). On average, we see our last 90° day of the season by August 30th.
We could very likely see daytime temperatures reach 90 degrees over the upcoming weekend or early next week. The computer models indicate that a ridge of high pressure will build into the central US. That would bring dry conditions and hot temperatures that may spread eastward into east-central Ohio. Temperatures could reach the upper-80s and perhaps even 90°. We’ll just have to wait and see if this forecast trend continues.
Thanks for taking a few minutes to learn a little about our local weather in the Tuscarawas Valley. The stats and records above originate from National Weather Service data obtained from Harry Clever Field in New Philadelphia, Ohio. – Joe
Thank you, that was very interesting.
So interesting. And informative.